Councils buying care ‘on the cheap’

Councils across the UK are buying vital home help for elderly people on the cheap, the firms providing care say.

Thousands of vulnerable older people rely on councils to organise support for them for daily tasks such as washing, dressing and feeding.

But research by the UK Homecare Association found only one in seven was paying a fair price for care.

It said this meant visits were being cut short, but councils said they had insufficient money to pay more.

‘I would like more care’

Doreen Foreman is 88 and lives in the north-east of England. Carers come in four times a day for 30 minutes each.

She relies on her carers for virtually everything. She has limited mobility so needs them to help her go to the toilet and to fetch her meals.

She says she loves to chat with her carers because it makes her happy, but adds there is not always enough time.

“They say they only have half an hour. We manage in that time, but I would like more.”

Karley Craig, one of Doreen’s carers, sympathises with her. She says she would like more time, but as they need to deal with Doreen’s medication and food and move her with a hoist, there is little time for anything else because Karley then has to go on to her next client.

Karley says caring is something she “always wanted to do”, but says the pay is not enough for the level of responsibility she has.

“We are doing what district nurses do,” she adds.

What did the research find?

More than 850,000 people are given support in their own home.

About 80% of this is organised by councils, which normally outsource the work to care agencies.

The UKHCA, the umbrella group for care firms, asked more than 200 councils and care trusts for information about how much they paid for care.

The average fee was £16.12 an hour, although in some places it was below £13.

The UKHCA said the minimum price was £18.01, once factoring in the cost of running the services and the wages for the care worker was considered.

Regionally in England, councils in the north-west and north-east had the lowest rates, while nationally in the UK, Northern Ireland paid the least.